China Boosts Fiscal Revenue in First QuarterThe Chinese government saw a 23. 8 percent jump in fiscal revenue in the first quarter of this year, the Ministry of Finance stated on April 20.Fiscal revenue rose to 287.8 billion yuan in the period, 55.4 billion yuan or 23.8 percent more than in the same period of last year. The ministry said in a news release that fiscal expenditure totaled 237.6 billion yuan in the first quarter, 53.6 billion yuan or 29.1 percent over last year. As a result, the government secured a budget surplus of 50.2 billion yuan during January to March. The ministry said that the higher growth rate of government expenditure was due to the reform of the method of calculating budget figures. For the first time in history, the central government budget for the year has taken into account payment of debt interest as part of current expenditures. But in the first quarter of last year, debt service was not regarded as part of the routine spending. |
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